Highlands County, FL Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

101 of the Land Development Regulations states the core rule administered by the enforcing official and building official under Article 3: no building or other structure may be erected, moved, added to, or structurally altered without a building permit issued by the Building Department, and no permit can issue except in conformity with the chapter's provisions. A permit, once issued, authorizes only the construction and use it describes, so a project that changes scope needs a new or amended permit. 110 broadens the picture, listing the other approvals that can accompany a building permit depending on the project, including inspections and certificates from the enforcing official, special exception permits and variances from the Board of Adjustment, special-use permits from the county commission, final development orders, preliminary and final site plans and plats, flood hazard development permits, and driveway permits for single-family, duplex and manufactured-home lots.

Before a permit issues, Sec. 302 requires a general description of the proposed work and, for new residential or commercial buildings and most accessory structures placed on concrete, a boundary survey by a Florida-licensed surveyor, unless the parcel or structure type is on the exemption list. 109 makes any violation of the chapter, including building without the required permit, a misdemeanor punishable as provided by law, with each day the violation continues counted as a separate offense; owners, tenants, architects, contractors, engineers and agents who participate in the violation can each be charged separately.